1. Introduction

Welcome to Virtual Hospitals Africa. We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use and share it, and your rights regarding your personal data. By using our services, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. Our practices align with local regulatory standards to ensure the safe and ethical use of telemedicine.

2. Our Services

Virtual Hospitals Africa provides a comprehensive telemedicine platform designed to support healthcare professionals and patients through various tools and features:

•  Health Worker Application:  Enables credentialed health workers to access patient data, conduct virtual consultations, and prescribe medications efficiently.
•  Regulator Application:  Offers authorized regulators the ability to oversee pharmacists, manage medication recalls, and ensure compliance with healthcare standards.
•  Pharmacist Chatbot:  Allows credentialed pharmacists to access patient prescriptions, communicate directly with health workers, and streamline the prescription fulfillment process.

3. Information We Collect

We collect information about two distinct groups: patients (who do not use the application directly) and health workers, regulators, and pharmacists (who use the application).

•  Patient Information:  We collect personal health information about patients from the health workers, regulators, and pharmacists using our platform. This includes the patient’s name, contact details, age, gender, medical history, and other relevant health information necessary for providing healthcare services.  We only collect this personal information where we have confirmed that these third parties have the patient’s consent or are otherwise legally permitted or required to disclose this information to us.
•  Health Worker, Regulator, and Pharmacist Information:  For users of the application, we collect personal information such as names, professional credentials, contact information, and usage data. This includes information about how our service is accessed and used, including device information, IP address, browser type, and browsing data.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information for various purposes:

•  To ensure users have the necessary credentials to provide medical services : we
•  To provide and maintain our services:  Including information necessary to register an account with, and log onto, our platform and facilitating telehealth consultations, prescription services, and other medical support.
•  To improve our services:  By analyzing usage data to enhance user experience and service delivery.
•  To communicate with you:  Informing you of updates, changes to our service, any pertinent health notifications and support requests you submit to the platform.
•  To comply with legal obligations:  Ensuring that all actions are in line with legal and regulatory requirements, promoting the ethical and secure handling of personal health information.

5. Sharing Your Information

We may disclose personal information to third parties for a variety of business or commercial purposes.  This includes disclosure:

•  to any affiliated group company  for our operational business purposes; 
•  to our  third-party services providers  who provide data processing for our operational business purposes.  For example, we may disclose this personal information to support the delivery of, provide functionality on, or help to enhance the security of our platform or services), or for other operational and commercial purposes that are described in this Privacy Policy or notified to you when we collect your personal information;
•  to our  partners  with whom we share data for the Virtual Hospitals Africa platform.  We may disclose this information for our operational business purposes or for the commercial purpose to provide services to our customers.
•  to our  customers , for the commercial purpose of providing our services;
•  to any  competent law enforcement body, regulatory, government agency, court or other third party  where we believe disclosure is necessary (i) as a matter of applicable law or regulation, (ii) to exercise, establish or defend our legal rights, or (iii) to protect your vital interests or those of any other person;
•  to an actual or  potential buyer  (and its agents and advisers) in connection with any actual or proposed purchase, merger or acquisition of any part of our business, provided that we inform the buyer it must use your personal information only for the purposes disclosed in this Privacy Policy;
•  to any  other person with your consent  to the disclosure; and
•  as otherwise allowed by applicable data protection law.

Provided, however, we only share specific patient information with health professionals with the explicit consent of the patient for that information to be shared with other credentialed health care professionals. We do not share, transfer, or disclose Google user data with any third parties.

6. Access and Security

Access to our platform is by invitation only and restricted to credentialed health workers, regulators, and pharmacists. We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. We implement various security measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access or disclosure, ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of your data.  Please note, though, that no internet transmission is completely secure, so while we strive to protect your data, we cannot guarantee that unauthorized access, hacking, data loss or a data breach will never occur.

7. Data Protection Mechanisms

We implement industry-standard data protection mechanisms to safeguard sensitive data, including encryption, secure socket layer (SSL) protocols, and access controls.

8. Data Retention and Deletion

Virtual Hospitals Africa will retain your information as long as we have a legitimate interest or business purpose to retain the information, or as otherwise allowed by applicable law.  Patients may request that their data be deleted by contacting us using the details provided under the “Contact Us” section of this Privacy Policy. We will respond to and address such requests in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

9. Sale of Data

We do not sell Google user data or any other personal data to third parties.

10. Your Rights

Virtual Hospitals Africa supports the exercise of your data protection rights in accordance with applicable data protection laws.  Specifically, you have the following rights regarding your personal information:

•  Access:  You can request access to your personal data and information on how it is used.
•  Correction:  You can request corrections to any inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
•  Deletion:  You can request the deletion of your personal data, subject to our legal obligations.

If you would like to exercise any of your rights or have questions about our privacy practices, you can contact us using the details provided under the “Contact Us” section of this Privacy Policy.  We respond to all requests we receive from individuals wishing to exercise their data protection rights in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us: jonathan.tagarisa@virtualhospitalsafrica.org .

By using our services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

1. Introduction

Welcome to Virtual Hospitals Africa. We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use and share it, and your rights regarding your personal data. By using our services, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. Our practices align with local regulatory standards to ensure the safe and ethical use of telemedicine.

2. Our Services

Virtual Hospitals Africa provides a comprehensive telemedicine platform designed to support healthcare professionals and patients through various tools and features:

•  Health Worker Application:  Enables credentialed health workers to access patient data, conduct virtual consultations, and prescribe medications efficiently.
•  Regulator Application:  Offers authorized regulators the ability to oversee pharmacists, manage medication recalls, and ensure compliance with healthcare standards.
•  Pharmacist Chatbot:  Allows credentialed pharmacists to access patient prescriptions, communicate directly with health workers, and streamline the prescription fulfillment process.

3. Information We Collect

We collect information about two distinct groups: patients (who do not use the application directly) and health workers, regulators, and pharmacists (who use the application).

•  Patient Information:  We collect personal health information about patients from the health workers, regulators, and pharmacists using our platform. This includes the patient’s name, contact details, age, gender, medical history, and other relevant health information necessary for providing healthcare services.  We only collect this personal information where we have confirmed that these third parties have the patient’s consent or are otherwise legally permitted or required to disclose this information to us.
•  Health Worker, Regulator, and Pharmacist Information:  For users of the application, we collect personal information such as names, professional credentials, contact information, and usage data. This includes information about how our service is accessed and used, including device information, IP address, browser type, and browsing data.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information for various purposes:

•  To ensure users have the necessary credentials to provide medical services : we
•  To provide and maintain our services:  Including information necessary to register an account with, and log onto, our platform and facilitating telehealth consultations, prescription services, and other medical support.
•  To improve our services:  By analyzing usage data to enhance user experience and service delivery.
•  To communicate with you:  Informing you of updates, changes to our service, any pertinent health notifications and support requests you submit to the platform.
•  To comply with legal obligations:  Ensuring that all actions are in line with legal and regulatory requirements, promoting the ethical and secure handling of personal health information.

5. Sharing Your Information

We may disclose personal information to third parties for a variety of business or commercial purposes.  This includes disclosure:

•  to any affiliated group company  for our operational business purposes; 
•  to our  third-party services providers  who provide data processing for our operational business purposes.  For example, we may disclose this personal information to support the delivery of, provide functionality on, or help to enhance the security of our platform or services), or for other operational and commercial purposes that are described in this Privacy Policy or notified to you when we collect your personal information;
•  to our  partners  with whom we share data for the Virtual Hospitals Africa platform.  We may disclose this information for our operational business purposes or for the commercial purpose to provide services to our customers.
•  to our  customers , for the commercial purpose of providing our services;
•  to any  competent law enforcement body, regulatory, government agency, court or other third party  where we believe disclosure is necessary (i) as a matter of applicable law or regulation, (ii) to exercise, establish or defend our legal rights, or (iii) to protect your vital interests or those of any other person;
•  to an actual or  potential buyer  (and its agents and advisers) in connection with any actual or proposed purchase, merger or acquisition of any part of our business, provided that we inform the buyer it must use your personal information only for the purposes disclosed in this Privacy Policy;
•  to any  other person with your consent  to the disclosure; and
•  as otherwise allowed by applicable data protection law.

Provided, however, we only share specific patient information with health professionals with the explicit consent of the patient for that information to be shared with other credentialed health care professionals. We do not share, transfer, or disclose Google user data with any third parties.

6. Access and Security

Access to our platform is by invitation only and restricted to credentialed health workers, regulators, and pharmacists. We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. We implement various security measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access or disclosure, ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of your data.  Please note, though, that no internet transmission is completely secure, so while we strive to protect your data, we cannot guarantee that unauthorized access, hacking, data loss or a data breach will never occur.

7. Data Protection Mechanisms

We implement industry-standard data protection mechanisms to safeguard sensitive data, including encryption, secure socket layer (SSL) protocols, and access controls.

8. Data Retention and Deletion

Virtual Hospitals Africa will retain your information as long as we have a legitimate interest or business purpose to retain the information, or as otherwise allowed by applicable law.  Patients may request that their data be deleted by contacting us using the details provided under the “Contact Us” section of this Privacy Policy. We will respond to and address such requests in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

9. Sale of Data

We do not sell Google user data or any other personal data to third parties.

10. Your Rights

Virtual Hospitals Africa supports the exercise of your data protection rights in accordance with applicable data protection laws.  Specifically, you have the following rights regarding your personal information:

•  Access:  You can request access to your personal data and information on how it is used.
•  Correction:  You can request corrections to any inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
•  Deletion:  You can request the deletion of your personal data, subject to our legal obligations.

If you would like to exercise any of your rights or have questions about our privacy practices, you can contact us using the details provided under the “Contact Us” section of this Privacy Policy.  We respond to all requests we receive from individuals wishing to exercise their data protection rights in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us: jonathan.tagarisa@virtualhospitalsafrica.org .

By using our services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.